text:
Basel, Switzerland (SportsNetwork.com) - Reigning champion Juan Martin del Potro and five-time titlist Roger Federer were a pair of straight-set quarterfinal winners Friday at the $1.955 million Swiss Indoors Basel.
The top-seeded Argentine slugger del Potro recorded his 300th career ATP match win by handling oft-injured Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 at St. Jakobshalle.
"It's a pleasure winning my 300th match on tour, doing it here in Basel, against Mathieu," said del Potro. "I think I played really well. I don't know if I deserved that, but it's like a gift for all my efforts for many, many years of work. I am looking forward to [trying to] reach the final once again. I am trying to go far and repeat what I did last year."
Del Potro, who upset the Swiss hero Federer in last year's Basel finale, is seeking a trip into a third final in three events, having recently titled in Tokyo and finished as a runner-up at the Shanghai Masters.
The Argentine's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be another Frenchman, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who outlasted German Daniel Brands 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 on Day 5.
The third-seeded former world No. 1 great Federer, meanwhile, topped eighth- seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). The rising Dimitrov, nicknamed "Baby Fed," was fresh off his first-ever ATP title in Stockholm last week.
The 32-year-old Federer, who is a nine-time finalist at his hometown Basel event, will face rising Canadian Vasek Pospisil on Saturday. Pospisil got past Croat Ivan Dodig 7-6 (13-11), 6-4.
The 2013 Basel titlist will earn $475,000.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Top Line Roofing Contractors
No.1 Roofing Contractors in Portland Top Rated Roofers in Portland Commercial & Residential Portland Roofing Contractors
Top Line Roofing Contractors provide roofing services in and around the Portland Oregon Metro areas. Top Line is experienced with both residential and commercial roofs. The owner is a Master Elite certified roofer, one of the highest classification that can be given to a roofing contractor. The quality of the finished product and work ethic is exceptional. The roofing company knows that if you don't need a new roof, you should be aware of it. Top Line roofers are experts in roof replacement. They work with the following roof materials: COMMERCIAL, Torch Down, TPO and PVC. RESIDENTIAL: Asphalt Shingles Composition, Metal roofing and Built-up roofing. Roll roofing. Slate, Cedar, Green roofing.
Portland most commonly refers to: Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeastern United States Isle of Portland, England, a tied island in the English ChannelPortland may also refer to: == Places and establishments == === Australia === Cape Portland, Tasmania, a cape on the north-eastern tip of Tasmania Portland, New South Wales, a town with the first Australian cement works Portland, Victoria, a regional city and port City of Portland (Victoria), a former local government area (LGA) === Canada === Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario (sometimes mistakenly spelled "Portlands"), the eastern part of the Toronto waterfront Portland Island (British Columbia), a small island off the coast of Vancouver island Portland Inlet, an inlet between southeastern Alaska and British Columbia Portland Canal, an arm of Portland Inlet Portland Estates, Nova Scotia, an area of Halifax Portland, Ontario, a town north of Kingston, Ontario Portland, Newfoundland and Labrador, a village on the east coast of Newfoundland === Hong Kong === Portland Street, a popular business and shopping street in Hong Kong === Ireland === Portland, County Tipperary, a townland in North Tipperary === Jamaica === Portland Parish, on Jamaica's north-east coast Portland Point, Jamaica's southernmost point === New Zealand === Portland, New Zealand, a town south of Whangarei Portland Island, New Zealand, an island off the Mahia Peninsula === South Africa === Portland, Mitchells Plain, a neighborhood of Cape Town.
Argay, Arlington Heights, Brooklyn, Buckman Neighborhood, Collins View, Crestwood, Cully, East Columbia, East Portland Neighborhood, Eastmoreland, Foster - Powell, Goose Hollow, Grant Park, Hawthorne, Hayhurst


text:
"Chapter 4: Strengthened by the Power of the Holy Ghost," Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow (2011)
"Chapter 4," Teachings: Lorenzo Snow
Chapter 4
Strengthened by the Power of the Holy Ghost
"Make up your minds to live humbly and in such a way that you will always have the Spirit of the Lord to be your friend."
From the Life of Lorenzo Snow
In his first general conference address as President of the Church, Lorenzo Snow taught, "We are dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord to aid us and to manifest to us from time to time what is necessary for us to accomplish under the peculiar circumstances that may surround us."1 President Snow might not have been alive to make that statement if two of his friends had not depended upon the Spirit of the Lord in a peculiar circumstance 34 years earlier.
In 1864, Elders Lorenzo Snow and Ezra T. Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles went on a mission to the Hawaiian Islands. They were accompanied by three other missionaries: Elders Joseph F. Smith, William Cluff, and Alma L. Smith. When their ship anchored off the coast of the island of Maui, all but Joseph F. Smith boarded a smaller boat to go ashore. As they approached the island, high waves struck, causing the steersman to lose control of the boat. The boat capsized, and all the occupants were thrown into the water. Soon everyone surfaced except Elder Snow. A group of islanders rushed to help, taking William Cluff and Alma L. Smith in a lifeboat to search for their friend. Elder Cluff related:
"The first I saw of Brother Snow was his hair floating upon the water around one end of the capsized boat. As soon as we got him into our boat, we told the boatmen to pull for the shore with all possible speed. His body was stiff, and life apparently extinct.
"Brother A. L. Smith and I were sitting side by side. We laid Brother Snow across our laps, and, on the way to shore, we quietly administered to him and asked the Lord to spare his life, that he might return to his family and home.
"On reaching the shore, we carried him a little way to some large barrels that were lying on the sandy beach. We laid him face downwards on one of them, and rolled him back and forth until we succeeded in getting the water he had swallowed out of him. …
"After working over him for some time, without any indications of returning life, the by-standers said that nothing more could be done for him. But we did not feel like giving him up, and still prayed and worked over him, with an assurance that the Lord would hear and answer our prayers.
"Finally we were impressed to place our mouth over his and make an effort to inflate his lungs, alternately blowing in and drawing out the air, imitating, as far as possible, the natural process of breathing. This we persevered in until we succeeded in inflating his lungs. After a little, we perceived very faint indications of returning life. A slight wink of the eye, which, until then, had been open and death-like, and a very faint rattle in the throat, were the first symptoms of returning vitality. These grew more and more distinct, until consciousness was fully restored."
Looking back on this experience, Elder William Cluff knew why he and Elder Alma L. Smith were able to save Elder Snow's life. "We did not only what was customary in such cases," he said, "but also what the Spirit seemed to whisper to us."2 [See suggestion 1 on page 80.]
Teachings of Lorenzo Snow
Through the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are led to all truth and strengthened in our faith.
There [is] a certain blessing connected only with obedience to the gospel, that [is] the gift of the Holy Ghost. … The Savior, who undoubtedly knew best about the nature and character of this gift, said it should lead those who received it into all truth and show them things to come [see John 16:13]. It should be more than that spirit which proceeds from God, filling the immensity of space and enlightening every man that comes into the world [see D&C 84:46]; the gift of the Holy Ghost should lead into all truth, and show them things to come.
Furthermore, in speaking of its effects, the Apostle [Paul] says: "The spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To one is given faith." [See 1 Corinthians 12:7, 9.] Not a common, ordinary faith, which some people pretend to at the present day; but a faith which enabled its possessors to be sawn asunder, to be cast into dens of lions, fiery furnaces, and to undergo tortures of every description. This was the kind of faith that the Holy Ghost conferred upon those who possessed it, enabling its possessor to stand in the midst of every difficulty, defy every opposition and lay down his life, if necessary, for the cause that he had espoused. There was an almighty inspiring power in this faith, given by the Lord through the Holy Ghost, which no other principle could communicate. To one was given faith, to another knowledge [see 1 Corinthians 12:8], not that which is gained by reading books merely, but knowledge from the Almighty. A self-inspiring principle was upon them, which was tangible, giving them a knowledge of the cause they had espoused. They knew by revelation from God that the cause they had obeyed was true, it was revealed to them in a manner they could not dispute, and they knew for themselves. They were then established … upon the rock of revelation.3
Peter in preaching to the people said, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For this promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." [Acts 2:38–39.] This gift of the Holy Ghost is a different principle from anything that we see manifested in the sectarian world. It is a principle of intelligence, and revelation. It is a principle that reveals things past, present and to come, and these gifts of the Holy Ghost were to be received through obedience to the requirements of the gospel as proclaimed in those days and as proclaimed by the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in these days. It was upon this rock that their faith should be grounded; from this quarter they should receive a knowledge of the doctrine they had espoused, and we are told by the Savior "that the gates of hell should not prevail against them." [See 3 Nephi 11:39.] …
… The foundation upon which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built is the rock of revelation—upon the rock that Jesus said He would build His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it [see Matthew 16:17–18]. We have not received this knowledge through flesh and blood, we have not received this testimony from man, we have not received it through the reading of the Bible … or Book of Mormon, but we have received it through the operations of the Holy Ghost, that teaches of the things of God, things past, present and to come, and that takes of the things of God, making them clearly manifest unto us. You cannot take this knowledge from us by imprisonment or any kind of persecution. We will stand by it unto death.4 [See suggestion 2 on page 80.]
Every Latter-day Saint can have the Holy Ghost as a friend to give counsel.
There is a way by which persons can keep their consciences clear before God and man, and that is to preserve within them the Spirit of God, which is the spirit of revelation to every man and woman. It will reveal to them, even in the simplest of matters, what they shall do, by making suggestions to them. We should try to learn the nature of this Spirit, that we may understand its suggestions, and then we will always be able to do right. This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint. We know that it is our right to have the manifestations of the Spirit every day of our lives.
Persons come to me very anxious to receive counsel upon some subject or other. They need not come to me always (under some circumstances, of course, it would be highly proper), for the Spirit is within them to bring about good and to accomplish the purposes of God. … It is not always necessary for them to come to the President of the Church, or to the Twelve, or to the Elders of Israel, to get counsel; they have it within them; there is a friend that knows just exactly what to say to them. From the time we receive the Gospel, go down into the waters of baptism and have hands laid upon us afterwards for the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have a friend, if we do not drive it from us by doing wrong. That friend is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which partakes of the things of God and shows them unto us. This is a grand means that the Lord has provided for us, that we may know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark.5 [See suggestion 5 on page 80.]
The Holy Ghost can bring us happiness and peace of mind.
The Lord has established certain constitutional desires and feelings in our bosoms, and it is so with all mankind, with the whole human family. There are implanted and interwoven in their constitutions certain desires and capacities for enjoyment, desires for certain things that are in their nature calculated to promote our peace and well-being, that answer their feelings and promote their happiness, but how to obtain the gratification of those capacities and desires the world [does] not know nor understand, but the Lord has seen fit to put us in the channel and in the way of understanding those things by being faithful and walking in the light of the Holy Spirit and receiving truth.6
It is the privilege of the Latter-day Saints to live in the Gospel in such a way that they will feel approved of God. Of course, we do things sometimes that we are ashamed of when we come to consider them, but we repent of them in our hearts and determine to do them no more. That is all the Lord asks of us; and men and women who so live, live without condemnation. They have righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost.7
If we keep the light of the Spirit within us, we can so walk in the gospel that we can measurably enjoy peace and happiness in this world; and while we are traveling onward, striving for peace and happiness that lies in our path, in the distance, we shall have a peace of mind that none can enjoy but those who are filled with the Holy Spirit.8 [See suggestion 3 on page 80.]
We need the assistance of the Holy Ghost as we endure trials, fulfill our duties, and prepare for celestial glory.
There are many important things required at our hands, and many things which we can do, when assisted by the Spirit of the Lord, which may at times seem almost impossible to accomplish.9
I wish to remind my brethren and sisters … that we are dependent for our information and intelligence upon the Spirit of God, which may be in us, if properly cultivated, a spirit of inspiration, of revelation, to make manifest clearly to our understanding the mind and will of God, teaching our duties and obligations, and what is required at our hands. … We need assistance. We are liable to do that which will lead us into trouble and darkness, and those things which will not tend to our good, but with the assistance of that comforter which the Lord has promised his Saints, if we are careful to listen to its whisperings, and understand the nature of its language, we may avoid much trouble and serious difficulty.10
We are entirely dependent upon the spirit of inspiration, and if there ever was a time, since Adam occupied the Garden of Eden, when the Spirit of God was more needed than at the present time, I am not aware of it. The signs of the times, and the rapid approach of scenes that will try the hearts of the Latter-day Saints and their integrity, demand that we now seek earnestly the Spirit of God, and Divine assistance, for it will certainly be needed in the scenes now rapidly approaching. We know that we have needed it in the past. We can easily see that if we had not been in the possession of the Spirit of God to direct us through many of the scenes through which we have passed, we should not have been in the enjoyment of our present prospects of exaltation and glory, and our circumstances would have been much less favorable. And if we have needed the Holy Spirit in the past, we may truly understand that it will be needed in the future.11
We ought to understand—and I presume that we do generally—that the work which we have come into this life to perform cannot be done to the glory of God or to the satisfaction of ourselves merely by our own natural intelligence. We are dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord to aid us and to manifest to us from time to time what is necessary for us to accomplish under the peculiar circumstances that may surround us.12
It would be simply foolish indeed to expect the Latter-day Saints in these days to comply with the celestial law, with the law that proceeds from God, and with his designs to elevate the people into his presence, except they were sustained by a supernatural [heavenly] power. The gospel promises this. It promises the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is divine in its character, and which is not enjoyed by any other class of people, and which we are told by the Saviour, should lead into all truth, and inspire those who possessed it, and give them a knowledge of Jesus, a knowledge of the Father, and of things pertaining to the celestial world; that it should inspire those who possessed it with a knowledge of things to come, and things that were past; and inspire them to an extent that they should enjoy supernatural gifts—the gift of tongues and prophecy, to lay hands upon the sick, by which they should be healed.
Those who received this gospel were promised these supernatural power[s] and gifts, and a knowledge for themselves, that they might not depend upon any man or set of men, in regard to the truth of the religion that they had received; but that they should receive a knowledge from the Father that the religion came from him, that the gospel came from him, and that his servant had the right and authority to administer those ordinances, so that no wind of doctrine should shake them or remove them from the path in which they were walking; so that they might be prepared for the glory that should be revealed, and be made participators therein; so that they might endure any trial or affliction that it should be the will of God to be brought upon them, to prepare them more fully for celestial glory; so that they should walk not in darkness, but in the light and power of God, and be raised above the things of the world, and be superior to the things around them, so that they might walk independently beneath the celestial world, and in the sight of God and heaven, as free men, pursuing that course that should be marked out to them by the Holy Ghost, that course by which they could elevate themselves to knowledge and power, and thus prepare themselves to receive the glory that God proposed to confer upon them, and to occupy the exalted position to which God designed to raise them.13
We should so live that we shall know that our course of life is acceptable to God. We should understand the voice and whisperings of the Holy Spirit. In the day when the sky is not obscured by clouds, we discover surrounding objects, their beauty and purpose. So are we dependent on the Spirit of God for light upon the principles of truth and salvation. No professing Latter-day Saint can enjoy any great degree of happiness unless he thus lives, and thus places himself under divine guidance.14 [See suggestion 4 on page 80.]
When we live humbly, the Holy Ghost helps us in our onward path.
Make up your minds to live humbly and in such a way that you will always have the Spirit of the Lord to be your friend, to make such suggestions to you from time to time as shall be needed under the peculiar circumstances in which you may be placed. …
… How much longer I may live, I know nothing about, and I do not worry about it. I do desire, and it is something that you should desire, to have that humility, and that meekness, and that simplicity to enjoy the spirit of revelation. It is your privilege, every one of you, to have enough of the spirit of revelation to know exactly what is proper for you to do. It is your privilege to have it just as much as it is my privilege to know what to do tomorrow, when tomorrow comes, for the best interests of the Church in general.15
We should endeavor, as far as possible, to forget all worldly matters which grieve and vex us, and fix our minds upon the Lord, having a sufficiency of His Holy Spirit that we may be enabled to receive such knowledge and suggestions as will help us in our onward path.16 [See suggestion 5 below.]
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Consider these ideas as you study the chapter or as you prepare to teach. For additional help, see pages v–vii.
As you review the account on pages 71–73, think about times when you have been blessed because someone else has followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Also think about times when you have followed a prompting to help someone else.
Read the section that begins on page 73. What do you think it means to be "established … upon the rock of revelation"? (For some examples, see pages 73–75.) How can personal revelation give us strength to "stand in the midst of every difficulty" and "defy every opposition"?
President Snow said that the Holy Ghost can help us "enjoy peace and happiness in this world" (page 77). When has the Holy Ghost helped you be happy and feel peace? What are some other ways the Holy Ghost can help us? (For some examples, see pages 77–80.)
As you study the section beginning on page 77, think about how you have learned to recognize promptings from the Holy Ghost. How might you help a family member or friend learn to recognize the Spirit's promptings?
This chapter includes two references to the Holy Ghost as a friend (pages 76 and 79). Why do you think we need humility and simplicity to have the Holy Ghost as our friend?
Related Scriptures: Luke 12:12; John 14:26–27; Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; Galatians 5:22–25; 1 Nephi 10:17–19; 2 Nephi 32:5


text:
June 7, 2008
"We're not entitled under the law the way it's structured to plead truth, fair comment, qualified privilege or intent or standards of journalism."
ADDED: Is this post too short? Sorry, the free speech issue is too blatantly obvious for me to have anything more to say. The substance of Steyn's opinion is irrelevant. Canada should be ashamed that its laws do not protect free speech and that it permits judicial proceedings like this.
61 comments:
- AllenS said...
I can hardly wait for the first person to critize President Obama. Our standards of journalism aren't that great now. They certainly can get worse. Especially if there is a constant fear of being called a racist. Something that happens all too often now.
- Padre Steve said...
No Obamination or we are headed in the same direction!
- Michael McNeil said...
I notice that the reason (provided in this article) why the conservative-led government of Harper doesn't just repeal the relevant enabling law is because the requisite Liberal votes would not be forthcoming for passage, and thereafter they'd be able to harangue the conservatives with taunts such as "And then what human right will you take away tomorrow, Monsieur 'Arper?"
And yet, the fact that they have already, by this law, neutered the right of free speech doesn't embarrass them. - 6/7/08, 9:19 AM
- KCFleming said...
And this is how the west commits suicide, substituting rules for principle, permitting groups that disdain you to use your tolerance as a weapon against your own.
Very sad to see Canada slowly be eroded into a nation governed by Sharia law.
It's happening before our eyes, and I'm not being overly dramatic. - 6/7/08, 9:21 AM
- knox said...
Ordinary people who assume that our bureaucrats and public servants are basically honest basically good-willed people are stunned when they find out what goes on here.
What stuns me is that anyone, anywhere, still believes in bureaucrats or public servants. They are the most unaccountable group of any society.
Canadians--like Western Europeans--have become intimidated by petty complaints of Muslim activists in their midst. We better hope we're not the next ones to capitulate.
There's a video on youtube of Steyn debating 3 Muslim law students about this issue on Canadian TV. Very, very interesting to watch. Here's part 1 of 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=ApcnpFCYd7E&feature=related - 6/7/08, 9:21 AM
- knox said...
sorry, don't know how to do links. so lame I know - 6/7/08, 9:22 AM
- KCFleming said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- KCFleming said...
It is interesting to me that Canada is starting to resemble other nations that are lauded for their 'right to health care' while lacking basic human rights such as free speech, e.g. the USSR, China, Cuba, Venezuela.
I wonder if there is some sort of connection between the expansion of government power for seemingly beneficent purposes and its subsequent decline into tyranny.
The Founders of the US certainly had such a notion in mind, but we lost that ideal ourselves under Wilson and FDR and LBJ. - 6/7/08, 9:30 AM
- Fen said...
Thanks Ann. Glad to see you are blogging this.
Are the email & snail mail addy's of these socialist pigs public? I'd like to exercise my free speech on them. - 6/7/08, 9:37 AM
- Superdad said...
"The Founders of the US certainly had such a notion in mind, but we lost that ideal ourselves under Wilson and FDR and LBJ."
So true but don't forget that Linclon and his "American System" or merchantilism help lay the foundation for Wilson, FDR and LBJ to so vastly increase the scope of the federal gov't. - 6/7/08, 9:46 AM
- Bruce Hayden said...
I think that this is one of the advantages that we have, with a constitution written by a bunch of cynical utopians. So far, at least, analysis under the U.S. system is fairly cut and dried - Is it a government action? Then apply the 1st Amdt.
How long we can laugh at thte Canadians and Europeans in this area though is open for debate. There are plenty of places in this country that forget when applying alleged civil rights laws in just this fashion, that they are subject to that pesky amendment. This is a recurring theme over at Volokh.com, and esp. by Eugene there. - 6/7/08, 9:57 AM
- Trooper York said...
That's why all right thinking Americans should shun those filthy Canucks. They give us nothing but bad weather, toothless hockey player and an argument when we want to bomb some third world pisspot. Screw 'em, who needs them anyway. At least those nice Mexicans clean toilets and mow lawns without giving you a freakin' bullshit story.
- Hazy Dave said...
Well, that's a little recursive. The Instapundit article linked above now links back to here. Vortices popping up all over with this unsettled Spring weather in the Midwest...
I've been reading the liveblogging all week at macleans.ca, and it's been quite interesting. Something like a student run politically correct campus speech enforcement committee hearing writ large, I should imagine.
Finally, at Friday noon, they noticed Coyne was liveblogging ("broadcasting") the proceedings, and asked him to stop. If anything but closed door deliberation occurred after lunch Friday, it hasn't been reported yet. FreeMarkSteyn should have updates.
But it sounds like Ezra Levant is promising a real circus when he gets hauled up in front of Alberta's tribunal. That first video on his site is choice. (He's being railroaded for republishing the "Mohammed cartoons" in the Western Standard.)
What was it Frank Zappa said? "It can't happen here..." - 6/7/08, 10:01 AM
- UWS guy said...
Nay! That scurrilous wag Hamilton and his dastardly banking and mercantile system hath caused these States united far more grievous wound. Woe! That Jefferson was out bested in his revolutionary fervor.
Steyn has commented at great length on the situation. Two points he and others have made:
-- Once you introduce the notion of group rights, as opposed to individual rights, you are on a slippery slope. The Democratic Party in this country lives off of victim-group politics.
-- Activists with a particular agenda gravitate deliberately toward areas of government which address those agendas. Eventually you end up with, say, an EPA or an Education department staffed with radical activists who want to impose their bizarre ideas on an entire country and finally have the leverage to accomplish it.
Solution: Small federal government, focus on only essential constitutional functions (no "education" departments or "environmental protection" agencies or "human rights" commissions or...), and return to basics such as individual rights. This should be the mantra of the Republican Party, but we have wandered. - 6/7/08, 10:08 AM
- Unknown said...
Canadians enjoy a lot more freedom than Americans.
Canada has freedom of marriage. The United States does not.
Pornography is legal in Canada. In the United States, the Bush Administration is trying to convict people and imprison them for making porn.
in Canada, you can buy a sex toy. In Alabama, it puts you in jail.
The Canadian government says your are innocent until proven guilty. In the United States, they torture first and don't even give you a trial and keep you locked up forever.
In Canada, the government does not spy on its citizens. In the United States, the government monitors every phone call you make if the call is made outside of the country, without even having a warrant.
In Canada, you are allowed to say "I am gay" if you're in the military. In the Unites States, that will get you kicked out of the military.
Seems to me - that the United States has a hell of a lot more to be ashamed about. - 6/7/08, 10:16 AM
- Unknown said...
Oh and I love how all of the hypocrites on this thread want the Canadian court to be ACTIVIST and overturn the laws of the legislature - which is what the people want.
Ann is aghast when the California Supreme Court rules in favor of freedom, but she horrified that the Canadian Court is not doing the same. One is freedom of marriage and the other is freedom of speech, but they are both about freedom.
Sorry - You can't have it both ways. - 6/7/08, 10:20 AM
- UWS guy said...
P. Rich: Group rights were an inevitabilty once it was determined that minority racial groups couldn't count on their neighbors to defend or local government to guarantee their individual rights.
So you can blame modern-day-democrats all you want, but the problem lies with the South, the racism therein. It's the price of having kept them in the Union. - 6/7/08, 10:21 AM
- UWS guy said...
downtown lad: Your use of the word "aghast" I think is wrong? It's a cognate of "horrified" not an opposite.
- Unknown said...
It's not wrong. Ann didn't think the California Supreme Court should have ruled in favor of legalised gay marriage. She thought they should have deferred to the laws on the books, despite the fact that those laws were unconstitutional and anti-freedom.
But in Canada - she wants them to overturn the will of the people. - 6/7/08, 10:29 AM
- Unknown said...
I should clarify that I am in favor of maximum freedom.
Unlike Republicans - I don't cherry pick which freedoms are ok and which are not. - 6/7/08, 10:32 AM
- UWS guy said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- UWS guy said...
If you were really in favor of freedom you'd look for moderates in the Republican party to come to your cause. Since you, with a rhetorical flourish, cast anyone who's not a Democrat antithetical to your cause, you seem more keen to be partisan than to be convincing. You make yourself part of the problem.
I still hold that the (para)phrase, "She is aghast when...BUT she horrified at..."
that this clunky and confusing as it puts aghast and horrified as two emotions that are opposites. - 6/7/08, 10:41 AM
- Palladian said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- MadisonMan said...
you'd look for moderates in the Republican party
Anyone? Bueller? - 6/7/08, 11:09 AM
- Unknown said...
Those who don't learn from the present are condemmed to repeat it.
- Pastafarian said...
DTL -- it's interesting that most of the precious rights that you feel have been abridged in the US center about that most cherished of human rights, the right to stuff whatever you want into your squeak hole.
The loss of rights in Canada is something a little more serious -- the right of political expression, one of the two fundamental rights (the other being the right to keep and bear arms) that ensure the continued existence of all other rights.
If you wanted to make a serious list of the erosion of rights in the US, you would want to start with campaign finance reform. It's not as extreme or Orwellian as Canada's Human Rights Gestapo, but like the Canadian problem, campaign finance reform is an abridgement of political speech. - 6/7/08, 11:57 AM
- Unknown said...
It appears that the only way to solve this problem is to grab the Human Rights Commissioners, tar and feather them and ride the out of town on a rail.
I'm not using that as a metaphor. - 6/7/08, 12:14 PM
- UWS guy said...
--it's interesting that most of the precious rights that you feel have been abridged in the US center about that most cherished of human rights, the right of white women to stuff black men into their squeak holes. [loving vs. virginia 1967]
Sounds different doesn't it?
And really the 2nd Amendment? When was the last time the right to bear arms protected you personally against unwarranted searches by the police Pastafarian?
Your right to a jury of your peers is related to the second amendment how again? Women's suffrage?
I'm very pro-second amendment, but that line of reasoning, although popular, doesn't really mean anything outside of rhetoric. - 6/7/08, 12:15 PM
- PO'd said...
DTlad, you have no clue about what you're talking about.Freedom of marriage? Imposed by activist unaccountable judges, and opposed by 50% of Canadians. Porn being legal is not normally a national selling point, particularly when it results in becoming a sex tourism destination due to lax age of consent laws, recently changed from 14 to 16. Going to jail in certain states for buying sex toy is not a federal problem. Gov't "says" you're innocent? Gov't here says no such thing, and the proof of that is the existence of these " human rights" tribunals. These are opinion and thought suppression devices, created by social engineers,staffed by activists who believe you are guilty merely because you've been accused. And to actually believe the US gov't "monitors every phone call", whew, that takes some heavy duty paranoid fantasy. Look up "data mining" somewhere, that may help you understand what may happen to int'l phone traffic. Instead of listening in on our phones, they kick doors in at 0300 to bust law abiding firearms owners, suspected of letting their paperwork lapse.
UWS Guy said: "Group rights were an inevitabilty once it was determined that minority racial groups couldn't count on their neighbors to defend or local government to guarantee their individual rights."
I think it all depends on how you define the problem, and it helps to restrain the argument to one era. When the Civil War was fought, slavery was not illegal. In the 1960's, when the Civil Rights Law was passed, it was. That law was unnecessary, because it didn't accord any rights that blacks didn't already have. The problem was that existing federal laws weren't being enforced, much as immigration laws aren't today. And as with all special group rights, the eventual outcome is likely to be negative. Read Thomas Sowell on the "benefits" blacks have realized from the civil rights era and subsequent group politics.
This is the classic left-right debate. The former see big federal government and over-reaching laws tailored to groups as solutions. The latter see them as problems and want equal opportunity for all individuals and not mandated outcomes for certain designated victim groups. - 6/7/08, 12:29 PM
- PO'd said...
Also, DTLad, a former "human rights" prosecutor, now the only individual in the country to have filed sec.13 complaints and who has gotten rich from the settlements, has admitted under oath,he, along with other hrc investigators, hacked into a private citizen's wireless connection to hide his tracks, while trolling private blogs, and posting racist, even violent comments, to try to entrap the site owners for shakedown and/or hrc prosecutions. All under the auspices of gov't. If you honesty think we enjoy more freedom here, let's trade passports.
- knox said...
DTL sees gay marriage/rights as the barometer by which a country is to be judged. Nothing will ever change that.
- rhhardin said...
It's all caused by news bunnies.
I'm not sure what might be meant by the standards of journalism, by the way. - 6/7/08, 1:31 PM
- Trooper York said...
In Canada you have the right to be a hoser and wear one of those hats with earflaps and you can marry an Eskimo. But in a lot of the time you have to do it in French. So let's review, you have to deal with nasty supercilious people who refuse to talk to you unless you speak French. While freezing your balls off. Sounds like Paradise.
- Swifty Quick said...
Unlike Republicans - I don't cherry pick which freedoms are ok and which are not.
So you're saying you're a bigtime advocate for the unfettered right to bear arms, eh? Welcome home. - 6/7/08, 2:42 PM
- Steven said...
Bruce, having something written doesn't help that much. Not only does the whole thing violate Canada's Implied Bill of Rights, but it violates the clearly-written and fairly recent Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- David Davenport said...
Canada has freedom of marriage. The United States does not.
So polygamous marriages to thirteen year-old girls or boys are OK with you?
In Canada, you are allowed to say "I am gay" if you're in the military. In the Unites States, that will get you kicked out of the military.
We're so sad about that. - 6/7/08, 3:49 PM
- Fen said...
downtownlad said: blah hate america blah blah be more like Canada blah blah
No surprise that dtl sides with the facists. He's indicative of the type of weasels that make up these PCBS commitees. - 6/7/08, 4:07 PM
- Seerak said...
Bit by bit, it is becoming clearer and clearer that the Left is not, and has never been, about "liberalism".
About all they have left is downtownlad's incredibly corrupt "reasoning" that somehow, because conservatives are also not about freedom, that makes their own profound illiberalism excusable.
Newsflash for downtownlad: you are not a friend of freedom. You can't be, if you don't know what it is -- and equivocating between "freedom of marriage" and freedom of speech, or treating the issue of gays in the military as somehow of equal importance with freedom of speech, well that just about clinches that.
If you knew what freedom was, you would have pointed out that "freedom of marriage" is but one instance of a wider freedom known as "freedom of association", a right which IS still recognized in America -- while in Canada, individuals lack the freedom of association in medical trade -- you go to jail for that (although I'm hoping that the Chaoulli case eventually helps to mitigate that particular socialistic evil).
If you knew what freedom was, you would not be defending Canada. I am an expatriate Canadian for a reason, sir. I would refer you to the "Charter of Rights and Freedoms" to see why in fact Canadians do not have the same freedoms as Americans do, not in principle. I would suggest that you read its opening paragraph. Then there is the infamous notwithstanding clause, which is essentially a "get out of the Constitution free" card for provincial and federal governments. That is the one that the province of Quebec uses to shield its notorious "language police" from such trifles as the freedom to communicate in the language of one's choice.... but if you are as incapable of thinking in terms of principles as your postings prove, you won't get it.
In America, individuals have rights that are being eroded around the edges (mainly by the Left, but conservatives are doing their fair share, no doubt). In Canada, individuals merely have a very long leash that is getting shorter.
I like the fact that gays can marry in Canada, but that's just a mere legalism -- gays have not been forcibly separated from each other in either country. But there are basic individual rights upon which all derivative freedoms, such as "freedom of marriage", depend -- and freedom of thought, of communications and of association are among them. Without those rights, there can be no freedoms of any sort, period. You might as well trade away your heart and lungs for a nose job, see what good that does you.
The Steyn case is not the same sort of picayune erosion around the edges of the core right, as the gay marriage bans are -- it is a direct assault on the principle itself. Where gay marriage could be called the beginning of a slippery slope, the Steyn case illustrates what awaits you at the bottom of that slope.
When the religionists start pusing for the return of arranged marriages, then perhaps the two examples will be commensurate.
Until then, downtownlad, if you really want to be taken seriously as being "in favor of maximum freedom", I suggest you learn what freedom really means -- and quit that tired old Leftist tu quoque BS while you are at it. - 6/7/08, 4:23 PM
- Palladian said...
Excellent comment Seerak and others but downtownlad is soooo not worth it. Like an ape in a circus cage, he's a shit slinger and nothing more. Actually, except for the shit slinging, he's really not much like an ape, since apes are intelligent and interesting.
- Moon Rattled said...
Mark Steyn is indeed Canada's shame. I wish he would move to your country, but alas, he seems to enjoy the public health care system after all.
- knox said...
You might as well trade away your heart and lungs for a nose job, see what good that does you.
Let's leave titus out of this - 6/7/08, 6:05 PM
- Moon Rattled said...
Gah, so many of the commenters here are right wingnut ignoramuses who know not the first thing about Canada or its constitution nor, apparently, do they know the first thing about the erosion of civil liberties in their own country after Bush. If I were Ann I'd be embarrassed by this fanbase, but then Ann's been a Republican nutter since forever so there's no surprise here.
- Ann Althouse said...
downtownlad said..."It's not wrong. Ann didn't think the California Supreme Court should have ruled in favor of legalised gay marriage. She thought they should have deferred to the laws on the books, despite the fact that those laws were unconstitutional and anti-freedom."
Please cite the post that makes you think that's correct. I can't find it, and I can't remember writing any such thing. - 6/7/08, 6:25 PM
- Unknown said...
I see you don't have to be right-winged to be an ignoramous. And I didn't have to look far.
- TMink said...
See your future.
Don't Be Your Future.
Trey - 6/7/08, 7:06 PM
- Ralph L said...
I thought Steyn is a Canadian-born British subject who lives in New Hampshire.
knowwhirled, I keep this How to Link link in my favorites. The tricky part is remembering the second " after you cut&paste the URL. - 6/7/08, 7:06 PM
- Ralph L said...
Even trickier is typing "knoxwhirled."
Julian Porter is a lawyer. He has a client. In a contentious situation. A formula for scrupulous objectivity?
Mark Steyn is a writer. With principles. With a principles-brand to support.
Whether or not this complaint is sustained or sustainable remains to be seen.
But the Canadian Human Rights system, characteristically underfunded and chronically over-worked has performed a remarkable, educating, legitimizing function across the country.
On closer examination it has internal checks, external checks in the form of judicial review, offers remarkable free assistance to advance human rights to many people who otherwise never afforded and have helped to embed protect fundamental Canadian values.
Before throwing the system under the bus we should be taking a closer look at the law that sets up and governs these bodies.
We might be surprised! - 6/7/08, 7:11 PM
- rcocean said...
Canadians, they even make fascism boring.
- Palladian said...
I know, it's like Brazil without the menace.
- Steve in Philly said...
Per RulesWatch: "On closer examination it has internal checks, external checks in the form of judicial review, offers remarkable free assistance to advance human rights to many people who otherwise never afforded and have helped to embed protect fundamental Canadian values."
OK. Um, regardless of anyone's position on gay rights, or freedom of religion, to wonder whether the Alberta tribunal disagrees with the statement above.
http://ezralevant.com/2008/06/what-could-mark-steyns-punishm.html - 6/7/08, 8:12 PM
- Hector Owen said...
The Canadian Bill of Rights. Sounds good at the beginning, but as you read on through you see it has so many weaselly exceptions that it's a statement of good intentions, not actual bright-line law. John Diefenbaker's Canadian Pledge:
I am a Canadian,
free to speak without fear,
free to worship in my own way,
free to stand for what I think right,
free to oppose what I believe wrong,
or free to choose those
who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom
I pledge to uphold
for myself and all mankind.
Now, that's good: "speak without fear."
A newer version:
I pledge my loyalty to Canada,
And the freedom which it's democracy brings,
Provinces, territories and first peoples,
United equal and strong.
A country of rich colourful history and diversity,
Having many differences,
But one, unique, nation,
Upholding the rights and responsibilities,
Of all its people.
It says nothing about anything much; goes along with the Human Rights Commissions and such like. Soft slide into, not fascism exactly, but abdication of any defense of the rights of individuals. - 6/7/08, 8:14 PM
- Steve in Philly said...
Apologies for bad link. It's under Ezra Levant's blog http://ezralevant.com/
It's the 6/6 4:50pm post. - 6/7/08, 8:16 PM
- 1775OGG said...
Laws meant to engineer social behavior will do us in. Minneapolis, God bless my home town, is passing/did pass, a law forbidding idling a car for more than 3-minutes, unless it's Zero outside, when it may be idled for up to 15-minutes, in the theory that such idling is wasteful and pollutes. Next up is a law to forbid advertising cigars inside a store that sells them.
Next will be a law that forbids criticizing the Messiah unless one is talking about Jesus Christ, in which case, shoot that imposter down; he's no Obama!
What do we do, as a nation, when we're no longer hardy Americans but merely wimpy citizens of a greater world of which we are a major irritant.
Perhaps another way of expressing my disdain for coming social trends is to ask: Who will preside over the investment of President for Life Obama? Or, was Nikita right? - 6/7/08, 9:00 PM
- Unknown said...
It seems to me that in their own way, these self-appointed guardians of good, the entire activist class, hold more than a few unpleasant characteristics of the mad rabble that followed the French Revolution.
Who will be the first to be destroyed by today's mob of self-righteous tyrants? - 6/7/08, 9:25 PM
- Robert W. said...
Greetings to all from Vancouver, BC on Canada's Left Coast! I'm ecstatic that you're all following this Kangaroo Court Nightmare as closely as you are. It has been a major embarrassment for me and for any other Canadians who actually care about Free Speech. You might be surprised to find out how many don't, doubly so because it's Mark Steyn involved. Sad and pathetic.
Anyhow, there's a new development, one for which I hope you're both sitting in a stable chair and have not hot liquids close by.
A "Journalism" Professor from the prestigious Ryerson School of Journalism in Toronto, has just published a long diatribe ... wait for it ... AGAINST Mark Steyn and Maclean's and fully in support of the complainants. I've carefully outlined everything here.
God help us! - 6/8/08, 3:56 AM
- Revenant said...
Amusingly enough, despite the fact that Canadian journalists can be put on trial for accurate reporting of unclassified public-domain information, Reporters Without Borders still ranks Canada as having more press freedom than the United States.
Which says more about RWB's visceral dislike of America than it does about freedom. - 6/8/08, 5:29 AM
- Fen said...
MoonBat: Mark Steyn is indeed Canada's shame.
Ha. We'll trade you 20 Maureen Dowd's for 1 Steyn. Best op-ed writer I've ever read.
he seems to enjoy the public health care system after all.
I doubt he enjoys waiting in line 12 months to get medical treatment. Tell ya what, in addition to the 20 Dowd's, we'll send back every Canadian who's fled here to seek quality medical care... but you have to supply the buses.
Gah, so many of the commenters here are right wingnut ignoramuses who know not the first thing about... the erosion of civil liberties in their own country after Bush.
Vague unsupported assertions. Erosion of civil liberties, the Constitution has been suspended!. Total bullshit. If there was any truth to your desperate attempt to draw equivalence, you would be able to provide specific examples.
If I were Ann I'd be embarrassed by this fanbase, but then Ann's been a Republican nutter since forever so there's no surprise here.
Ah yes, you even threw in an Appeal to Conformity. Why not simply announce that you have no real argument? Idiot. - 6/10/08, 6:42 AM
- Robert W. said...
People like Moonbat always remind me of something Dennis Miller periodically talks about. In times past, when he was considered a "leftie", everyone on the left use to love him and think he was a comic genius. But since Sept. 2001 his views on a few issues (I repeat, A FEW) have changed.
Ever since, he has been ostracized by some and roundly hate by many more on the left. Being the thoughtful person he is, he reflected on this phenomenon deeply and came to the conclusion that so-called "Open Minded Progressives" are anything but. They love to use such labels to describe themselves but in the quiet of their own minds, they know it's false advertising.
Incidentally, for any of you interested, Mark Steyn has taken some much needed time off after this horrendous travesty of justice in Kangcouver, Kanuckistan. - 6/10/08, 11:08 AM


text:
Professor Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor was 9 years old when troops from the U.S.S.R. intervened in Afghanistan in 1979. He remembers standing with his family, feeding their small library of books one-by-one into a fire. They had heard stories of the Soviet communists murdering "intellectual" Afghan citizens and Ramizpoor's father wanted to keep his family safe.
Ramizpoor and most of his family survived the 10-year Soviet occupation of his home country. Today he is married with two young children and works as a United Nations human rights officer. He has also started Afghanistan's first free-market think tank promoting classical liberal values. A former lecturer at Kabul University, Ramizpoor runs the think tank voluntarily in order to educate his native country on the values of liberty, freedom and human rights.
Ramizpoor visited the Mackinac Center for Public Policy this past week to learn more about how free-market think tanks work and to discuss his work with the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO), located in the capital city of Kabul. He sat down for an interview with Capitol Confidential while in Michigan. The following are excerpts from that interview.
How did you come to understand the values of liberty and freedom?
"I grew up in a family where my father was involved in reading a lot of books. He was educated on philosophy. He encouraged me to read Islamic jurisprudence as well as other philosophical thoughts and opinions. I followed that and studied at Kabul University on Islamic jurisprudence and law. I became familiar with the values of liberty, freedom and human life."
In 1979, the Soviet Union marched troops into Afghanistan. What was your experience with that?
"I remember the days when I was 9 years old in 1979 when the communist regime came into power. They killed many innocent people, especially intellectuals. My father had a small library which had many intellectual books from many different scholars, including human rights and libertarian values. We were afraid that the communists would become aware of this library and kill my father, so my father told me to help him burn these books. All of our family members worked together to put these books one-by-one in the fire."
What happened next in your life?
"During the communist regime in the 1980s, my father lost his job. I took the responsibility of my family. I studied in school and at the university while starting a small shop at home that made suitcases and luggage. I sold these in the local market.
"I graduated from university in the last year of the communist regime and then was appointed as a lecturer for Islamic Jurisprudence in the law department of Sharia Faculty of Kabul University. For 17 years I taught there.
"After the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2002, I started my work of introducing the values of a free society to the Afghan people, including women's rights and children's rights, with the support of a German free-market think tank.
"Later, I was involved with the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. They supported me to establish a think tank called the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization to promote the values of a free society in Afghanistan."
Why are liberty and freedom important for Afghanistan?
"The Afghan people have suffered for more than three decades under dictatorship regimes. First the communists and then the religious dictatorships of the Taliban. I believe that tolerance, pluralism, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the market economy can bring values and prosperity to the Afghan nation.
"It will take time, but in practice, we have achieved a lot of these values [already]. Freedom of expression. Adopting of (sound) money laws. Protections of rights. [To some extent], each of these things has been achieved."
Is the message of freedom inconsistent with the Koran or the Muslim faith?
"We are looking strategically to present the libertarian values to the Afghan people coming to it from [the angle of] Islamic values. The modern interpretation of Sharia is open to freedom. Recently, we have not had any problems with fundamentalists or extreme Islamists. We do a lot of debates, roundtables and discussions.
"Some people feel these values are 'western values.' Fortunately, when they get a good explanation of these values, they appreciate it. But yes, some are against it from a religious point of view.
"[Of those against the message of freedom], there are two sorts of people: Those who have been affiliated with the communist party in the past and those under the influence of the extremist groups."
What obstacles have you overcome while doing your work?
"We are working to promote freedom, but we have enemies who are anti-freedom. They are also generating their own followers. Extremists, especially in neighboring countries. We should not stop our work. We will not be satisfied. We will continue working with other think tanks and individuals who promote freedom.
"In the past, as a well-known human rights defender, I have received many death threats by anti-government elements. But I did not stop my work and I will continue to work to provide liberty for my people.
"I have this message to those who want to tackle the extremists and the dictators: Have self-confidence. Continue working. Do not stop. We have work to do. We have to stand."
For more information on Professor Ramizpoor's organization, or to make a donation for his cause, please see their website: www.aelso.org.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government. Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for a free-market approach to public policy that frees people to realize their potential and dreams.
Please consider contributing to our work to advance a freer and more prosperous state.


text:
Emergency responders answered a call to a farming accident Tuesday evening. A Gilman-area famer died of injuries suffered in a combining accident.
Official details are yet to be released by officials, so the victim's name is not being released.
The man was operating a combine with his son along U-S Route 24. An attempt to un-clog the combine led to the accident when the machine kicked-back into its operation mode. Gilman Fire and ambulance personnel were on the scene.
The victim was air-lifted from Iroquois Memorial Hospital in Watseka to Champaign County where he died.


text:
Grant Sought To Fund Stormwater Project
BERLIN — Officials this week approved the application for the latest phase of a state grant to address the ongoing problems in certain flood-prone areas of the town.
The Mayor and Council on Monday approved an application for a state-issued Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) totaling around $800,000 for fiscal year to begin an ambitious stormwater management plan that could be a test case of sorts for other municipalities across Maryland. The application, if accepted, will be the third leg in a series of CDBG requests totaling over $1.9 million.
The other portions of Berlin's latest series of CDBG grants have been used on other important projects throughout the town including the construction of a wastewater holding pond, or lagoon, at the Five Mile Branch spray irrigation site and the complete remodeling of the public restrooms in Town Hall in the center of Berlin.
The third phase in the latest series of state grants will be used, if approved, for the beginning of the town's multi-year, multi-faceted stormwater management plan. The first leg of that ambitious plan would improve the flow of stormwater in the area of Hudson's Branch in general, and more specifically install a new culvert under Flower Street in an area prone to heavy flooding in even a modest weather event.
"I think we're all keenly aware of Berlin's flooding problems," said Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen. "This would address all areas affected by Hudson's Branch. The culvert at Flower Street is currently undersized and this would be a first step in the process to alleviate the flooding problems."
Among the areas that could see initial relief from flooding by replacing the undersized culvert at Flower Street include Franklin Ave., Cedar Ave. and Maple Ave., for example. Stormwater engineer Darryl Cole explained the project needed to begin somewhere and the Flower Street culvert represented a good jumping off point.
"The improvements at that location will improve the flow further upstream," he said. "There is a bottleneck there, and everything that happens further upstream is affected by it. There is a lot of water trying to go through a very small area."
Mayor Gee Williams assured all of the residents of the town that starting a town-wide stormwater management plan at the known trouble spot at Flower Street made the most sense.
"This is going to be a three-year project and we have to start somewhere," he said. "Showell Street is also at the top of the list. This is what the engineers have told us will do the most good for the least amount of money. This is not a one-time thing. We're systematically going to fix all of the trouble areas in the town."
Williams said Berlin has the opportunity, or the misfortune perhaps, of being one of the first to aggressively fix its stormwater management problems.
"This problem is so big all over the country and everybody is a little intimidated because they want to fix everything all at once," he said. "We're going to be at the front of the line. It's not like we're going to be able to go to other towns and ask how they did it. Other towns are going to be looking to us for advice for the next 20 years."
The stormwater management plan is just a portion of the town's most recent CDBG grant package. Creating the holding lagoon at the Five Mile Branch spray irrigation site was a $5 million project paid for in part by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) at $3 million, the CDBG at $600,000 and the town at $182,000. The storage lagoon covers about eight acres and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The other portion of the CDBG funds is being used to completely restore the dilapidated old public restrooms at Town Hall on William Street. Of the estimated $114,328 total cost of the project, the CDBG grant is covering $65,500.
"They weren't the most pleasant of places to send the visitors to our special events," said Bohlen. "They were outdated, hard to keep clean and a constant problem with maintenance."
Bohlen explained the old fixtures were torn out and completely replaced with state-of-the-art fixtures. The old facilities were essentially demolished completely and the undersized and outdated plumbing and drainage systems were completely replaced.
"They are much, much better," said Williams. "They are no longer a place you'd be ashamed to send your family and friends."
One resident in attendance asked the council to install new signage at different locations around Berlin to direct visitors to the new and improved public restrooms. Williams said they would take it under consideration, but said many of the special event programs include maps of where restrooms and other town amenities are located. He also said most visitors these days are armed with smart phones that direct people where to go for public services.


text:
Story #25
February 4, 1956 — Cortina d'Ampezzo
When the Soviets won the 1954 World Championship in Stockholm, their first ever international tournament, they shocked Canada and the hockey world. But by 1956, there was no shock factor heading to the Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Canada had reclaimed the world title in 1955, but it was clear the main competition would come from the newcomer on the World hockey scene. Nonetheless, Canada's representatives, the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen (with Martin Brodeur's father Denis as one of the goalies), were not able to provide enough of a challenge for their new rivals. The Soviet team of 1956 featured many of the same players from the previous two World Championships, most notably goalie Nikolai Puchkov and skaters such as Vsevolod Bobrov, Viktor Shuvalov, Alfred Kuchevski, Valentin Kuzin and Alexi Gurychev. Although the Soviets and Canadians started well in the round-robin, the medal round proved the difference. Canada lost to the United States, a 4-1 shocker, but the Soviets beat all comers. They started with a routine 4-1 win over Sweden, hammered the Germans, 8-0, survived a brief Czech scare, 7-4, and shut out the Americans, 4-0. Still, the gold medal came down to the final day of the tournament, played outdoors in front of a capacity crowd of 12,700. A Canadian victory meant certain silver and possible gold, and a Soviet loss would have meant a bronze medal.
On this day, however, Puchkov was unbeatable and Canada's offence was stymied. Canada dominated the first period but couldn't score. In the second period, Canada was again the better team, but the only goal was scored by Yuri Krylov at 6:20. Canada's hopes were deflated early in the third when Kuzin scored just 37 seconds after the faceoff, and this 2-0 lead was all the Soviets needed. The victory ensured a gold medal, and the U.S. edged past Canada by defeating the Czechs 9-4 for the silver. Canada's bronze was its worst international result since it began competing in 1920, and the Olympic gold for the Soviets ushered in an era of dominance that continued for much of the next 30 years and more. Other than USA wins in 1960 and 1980, the Soviets won Olympic gold every four years until 1992.
As part of the IIHF's 100th anniversary celebrations, www.IIHF.com is featuring the 100 top international hockey stories from the past century (1908-2008). Starting now and continuing through the 2008 IIHF World Championships in Canada, we will bring you approximately three stories a week counting down from Number 100 to Number 11.
The Final Top 10 Countdown will be one of the highlights of the IIHF's Centennial Gala Evening in Quebec City on May 17, the day prior to the Gold Medal Game of the 2008 World Championship.
These are the criteria for inclusion on this list: First, the story has to have had a considerable influence on international hockey. Second, it has to have had either a major immediate impact or a long-lasting significance on the game. Third, although it doesn't necessarily have to be about top players, the story does have to pertain to the highest level of play, notably Olympics, World Championships, and the like. The story can be about a single moment — a goal, a great save, a referee's call — or about an historic event of longer duration — a game, series, tournament, or rule change.
Click here for the 100 Top Stories


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The proposed annual attendance is similar to what is seen at the Michigan International Speedway on one race weekend. We see tremendous activity from tourism in Lenawee County on these weekends and during similar events at MIS, including Faster Horses. On a smaller scale, we see similar activity related to athletic contests at our colleges.
We know that we already lose some economic activity due to the lack of lodging space within Lenawee County at these events. The market analysis shows that families that travel to these tournaments are willing to travel from their overnight accommodations up to 35 minutes to the facility, and that can be supported by lodging in the community inside and outside of the county borders. These lodging facilities support our existing events.
More importantly, we know that if this project should proceed forward, once the facility is developed, you will see additional private development in Lenawee County. Part of this growth will be in the hospitality/lodging industry. Our municipal partners have already fielded inquiries from developers in this industry regarding this project. The site selected has the room for this type of growth, as do other areas of the county.
Development in this industry will allow Lenawee County to capture that revenue year-round in Lenawee County that is often missed on race weekends or during Faster Horses, as well as during the continued operations of the proposed facility.
Show All Answers
Part of the due diligence that Lenawee County has done on this project since the short-term purchase agreement in March has been investigating the environmental concerns for this project site. We have been meeting with the EPA, EGLE, and other agencies to investigate past mitigations efforts, additional work needed, and safety concerns for all our residents. The contaminants are very deep in the ground and pose no risk to the surface use of the property.
Our studies and meetings have shown that the proposed facility will be safe to use by all our residents. Should the project proceed forward into construction, we will be installing a barrier between all surfaces and any potential contaminants in the soil. The proposed site is on municipal water and sewer lines, so there is no concern about contamination from the ground water.
The proposed facility could consist of:
Final plans will be determined based on the market analysis and project funding, after the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners votes on whether to move forward with the project.
A project like this has been in discussion for many years. While many potential project sites have been investigated over the years, this site became desirable for a number of reasons. There are several state and federal grants available to develop this site in particular. This location in Tecumseh allows us to draw from more populated areas of the state to make the facility operations self-sustaining, as evidenced by the feasibility study.
The Adrian Mall was not considered as it was not for sale and lacked federal and state grant dollars. It is owned by a private developer with their own plans for development for that location. This site also does not give us the space to build the type of facility we are considering.
Every resident in Lenawee County will benefit from this project. Tax revenue generated from this project and the additional development surrounding the project in Adrian, Tecumseh, and the townships will follow and assist funding Lenawee County and local municipal programs and services for years to come.
No. This facility will be an added benefit for our colleges and other event facilities. This will allow our colleges additional space that they do not currently have for their sports teams to practice year-round. This will give them additional space to add new sports teams to their roster. Additionally, they can attract division and regional championships and host them at this facility.
Many of the local schools and athletic facilities have come out in support of the project as they see the added benefit to their existing programs. This facility will not compete with our local public school events.
Event facilities within the County can still host the current events they attract annually. They will be able to partner with the proposed facility to attract larger events. The proposed facility would be able to bid to garner larger events that will bring tourists and revenue to Lenawee County.
Yes. The market analysis shows that the region has a solid base of sports participants and moderate demand for this type of facility. Part of the proposed operations plan of the facility is to market and promote local Lenawee County "club" travel sports teams that will utilize the facility as its home.
Currently, many youth within Lenawee County travel out of county to participate on these club teams. While the demand exists for these teams, there is a lack of facility space available, as well as a county-wide organizational structure to put together the program.
The market analysis shows that we do have the youth population and participation to support this type of facility. Facilities of this type exist in areas with a lower youth population. More importantly, if we are to retain our current youth population or attract new families to Lenawee County, we need this type of facility to assist in providing quality of life improvements that are sought by young families.
College level athletes today play club sports because of the exposure to collegiate recruiters and increased competition level. To get recruited for college athletics, you need to play a club sport. Having this type of facility and these programs not only elevates the level of play for our high school sports teams and lets them compete at the state level, it allows our youth the same competitive advantage for college athletic scholarships that other communities across the state enjoy.
Club sports are offered year-round. For some sports, these indoor facilities are not readily available in other communities. Parents and high school athletes have come to think of club sports as essential to getting recruited. Club sports offer an elevated level of competition, and these families are committed. They travel every single weekend to tournaments to compete, always out-of-area. These teams do not function like high school athletics; travel is expected.


text:
Parting Shot: Bring America's Favorite Meth Dealer Home With This 'Breaking Bad' Toy
I'm still only on season three of Breaking Bad (I know, I know), so I'm hardly an expert, or as devoted a viewer as so many are of the critically-acclaimed series. That said, I still want this Walter White toy in my home. Designed by Mezco, this Comic-Con 2013 Summer Exclusive features White in his hazmat suit, a 55 gallon chemical drum, a few lab bottles and containers (you know, for making Meth), and a scale replica of the fly swatter from the season three episode "Fly." With a limited print run of 1,500, it will likely go fast, as these things always do.
Check out a few pictures after the cut.
For all of Mezco's Summer Exclusives, plus info on how to get them, check out their site.
[Via MTV Geek]


text:
I'm developing a endless running game and I'm not really sure on how to make the set. The first approach was to make a BIG set like 10240x3072 pixels so that we have a nice portion of set. After having like 3 or 4 sets that go along with each other I would work on making their elements sequential and repeatable. However this is getting really heavy for the iPad 1 (it's running good in the iPad 2 and the New iPad) even though I'm splitting all the set in slices through Photoshop. For the implementation I'm using Cocos2D. Is there any better approach to make something like this but truly efficient for the iPad memory?
Thank you.


text:
The White House Posters
The White House in Washington D.C. is the home and the executive office of the President of the United States of America. Being build in the late 18th century, the White House has been featured on more materials than anything else. A good collection of canvas art, of popular art print materials as well as miniature sculptures or home décor items, the level of popular interests has never been more incandescent.
Historical place – the White House
The White House is a place where history continues to unfold. Having entertained leaders and dignitaires from around the world over centuries, the White House is not only home and office to the president, it is also a living museum to the public. This building, which is so full of history, is a great subject for poster art. Imagine a poster or art print of the White House hanging in your home. Amazing, right?
Start your own White House poster collection
Some are interested solely in the way the White House has been represented in pop culture through the years, others are more methodical in their inquiries and get a thrill out of discovering poster collections. If you are one of those, you will certainly be satisfied. At least, when the time comes to browse through your poster collection you will have the best example of American life, the White House, in all its incarnations.


text:
Some consider it a tragic reminder of the price paid for imperialist U.S. wars of aggression. Others are just right-wing, jingoist chickenhawks and their opinion doesn't matter anyway. But thanks to the ravages of Bush's global warming, the Tomb of the Unknowns is in terrible shape and deteriorating rapidly. Officials at Arlington National Cemetery are faced with a serious dilemma: should they restore the tomb to it's original glory, or replace it entirely?
The answer is a resounding No! No! A thousand times, NO!!!! Forget for a moment that the Tomb of the Unknowns is a tragic reminder of the price paid for imperialist U.S. wars of aggression. The words chiseled into the monument's surface: "HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD" are a clear violation of the Separation Between Church and State - that very principle that the babykillers sealed within were sworn to defend. In order to honor their service and their sacrifice, the monument must be dismantled and replaced with a more secular tribute - such as a 20' statue of Obama, with a kneeling pillow at His feet so that all Americans can reflect upon His greatness.


text:
We use cookies to help give you the best possible experience on our site. Strictly necessary and functional cookies support login and shopping cart features, they cannot be disabled. Performance cookies support site performance analysis. These are optional and will be disabled if you click on Reject.
By clicking Accept you agree to our use of Performance cookies as detailed in our Privacy Policy.
Accept Reject
Title | Date | |
[PC] Installer v1.00 | Mar 03, 2014 | |
[PC] Update v1.30 | Jun 18, 2014 | |
Demo Quick Start Guide | Mar 06, 2014 |
Qvadriga is a tactical game of chariot racing in ancient Roman circuses, where you take control of a four horse chariot team. Choose your preferred upgrade combinations and prove your skills at the arena. Select the most cunning actions which your team could perform against the best drivers of the old world: shake reins, whip horses, choose lanes, hold tight while negotiating curves, avoid incoming attacks, block enemies path, lacerate and whip them until achieving victory.
Welcome to the Roman circus!
If you have come here it is because you wish to manage your own chariot racing team. Train your drivers and give them the finest equipment and horses. If you do this well, your chariots will provide you with both wealth and fame. but beware! Chariot races are dangerous. Accidents may occur and rival teams might try to harm your charioteers during the race. Make sure you do not grow too attached to your charioteers and always have a replacement available. Good luck!
Start an epic campaign from the most modest tracks of the empire corners, assemble a mighty team and build your fame through the provinces until reaching enough wealth to finally open the gates of Rome's greatest competition at the Circus Maximus, where you will be able to enter history and reach favour of gods.
Historically modeled circuses with all their styles and particularities. Variable sizes, lengths and shapes, from the classic Greek oval hippodrome to the standard Roman circus.
Huge campaign system with seven regions to travel, starting in any of them, from the exotic arenas of the far East to the Northern barbarian borders. 43 circuses to run, seven starting circus available from the beginning, unlock higher category circuses by building your fame.
Charioteers' skill and constitution can be improved, also chariots quality and size and horses' speed and endurance. Any combination is useful, provided you take advantage of its strengths.
Race events enrich campaign altering race conditions. Your faction will try to help in the darkest hours, if you are successful your rivals will make things harder. Buy, sell, heal and repair teams. Find the best components by gaining access to higher category circuses, hire medic, craftsmen and veterinary services to increase performance and configure the most competitive team.
© 2014 Slitherine Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Qvadriga, Slitherine Ltd. and their Logos are all trademarks of Slitherine Ltd. All other marks and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Developed by Turnopia & Slitherine Ltd.


text:
© ® The Nobel Foundation IPCC honoured with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
IPCC Phone: +41-22-730-8208 /84/54
A warmer climate, with its increased climate variability, will increase the risk of both floods and droughts (Wetherald and Manabe, 2002; Table SPM2 in IPCC, 2007). As there are a number of climatic and non-climatic drivers influencing flood and drought impacts, the realisation of risks depends on several factors. Floods include river floods, flash floods, urban floods and sewer floods, and can be caused by intense and/or long-lasting precipitation, snowmelt, dam break, or reduced conveyance due to ice jams or landslides. Floods depend on precipitation intensity, volume, timing, antecedent conditions of rivers and their drainage basins (e.g., presence of snow and ice, soil character, wetness, urbanisation, and existence of dikes, dams, or reservoirs). Human encroachment into flood plains and lack of flood response plans increase the damage potential.
The term drought may refer to meteorological drought (precipitation well below average), hydrological drought (low river flows and water levels in rivers, lakes and groundwater), agricultural drought (low soil moisture), and environmental drought (a combination of the above). The socio-economic impacts of droughts may arise from the interaction between natural conditions and human factors, such as changes in land use and land cover, water demand and use. Excessive water withdrawals can exacerbate the impact of drought.
A robust result, consistent across climate model projections, is that higher precipitation extremes in warmer climates are very likely to occur (see Section 3.3.1). Precipitation intensity increases almost everywhere, but particularly at mid- and high latitudes where mean precipitation also increases (Meehl et al., 2005, WGI AR4, Chapter 10, Section 10.3.6.1). This directly affects the risk of flash flooding and urban flooding. Storm drainage systems have to be adapted to accommodate increasing rainfall intensity resulting from climate change (Waters et al., 2003). An increase of droughts over low latitudes and mid-latitude continental interiors in summer is likely (WGI AR4, Summary for Policymakers, Table SPM.2), but sensitive to model land-surface formulation. Projections for the 2090s made by Burke et al. (2006), using the HadCM3 GCM and the SRES A2 scenario, show regions of strong wetting and drying with a net overall global drying trend. For example, the proportion of the land surface in extreme drought, globally, is predicted to increase by the a factor of 10 to 30; from 1-3 % for the present day to 30% by the 2090s. The number of extreme drought events per 100 years and mean drought duration are likely to increase by factors of two and six, respectively, by the 2090s (Burke et al., 2006). A decrease in summer precipitation in southern Europe, accompanied by rising temperatures, which enhance evaporative demand, would inevitably lead to reduced summer soil moisture (Douville et al., 2002) and more frequent and more intense droughts.
As temperatures rise, the likelihood of precipitation falling as rain rather than snow increases, especially in areas with temperatures near to 0°C in autumn and spring (WGI AR4, Summary for Policymakers). Snowmelt is projected to be earlier and less abundant in the melt period, and this may lead to an increased risk of droughts in snowmelt-fed basins in summer and autumn, when demand is highest (Barnett et al., 2005).
With more than one-sixth of the Earth's population relying on melt water from glaciers and seasonal snow packs for their water supply, the consequences of projected changes for future water availability, predicted with high confidence and already diagnosed in some regions, will be adverse and severe. Drought problems are projected for regions which depend heavily on glacial melt water for their main dry-season water supply (Barnett et al., 2005). In the Andes, glacial melt water supports river flow and water supply for tens of millions of people during the long dry season. Many small glaciers, e.g., in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru (Coudrain et al., 2005), will disappear within the next few decades, adversely affecting people and ecosystems. Rapid melting of glaciers can lead to flooding of rivers and to the formation of glacial melt-water lakes, which may pose a serious threat of outburst floods (Coudrain et al., 2005). The entire Hindu Kush-Himalaya ice mass has decreased in the last two decades. Hence, water supply in areas fed by glacial melt water from the Hindu Kush and Himalayas, on which hundreds of millions of people in China and India depend, will be negatively affected (Barnett et al., 2005).
Under the IPCC IS92a emissions scenario (IPCC, 1992), which is similar to the SRES A1 scenario, significant changes in flood or drought risk are expected in many parts of Europe (Lehner et al., 2005b). The regions most prone to a rise in flood frequencies are northern and north-eastern Europe, while southern and south-eastern Europe show significant increases in drought frequencies. This is the case for climate change as computed by both the ECHAM4 and HadCM3 GCMs. Both models agree in their estimates that by the 2070s, a 100-year drought of today's magnitude would return, on average, more frequently than every 10 years in parts of Spain and Portugal, western France, the Vistula Basin in Poland, and western Turkey (Figure 3.6). Studies indicate a decrease in peak snowmelt floods by the 2080s in parts of the UK (Kay et al., 2006b) despite an overall increase in rainfall.
Figure 3.6. Change in the recurrence of 100-year droughts, based on comparisons between climate and water use in 1961 to 1990 and simulations for the 2020s and 2070s (based on the ECHAM4 and HadCM3 GCMs, the IS92a emissions scenario and a business-as-usual water-use scenario). Values calculated with the model WaterGAP 2.1 (Lehner et al., 2005b).
Results of a recent study (Reynard et al., 2004) show that estimates of future changes in flood frequency across the UK are now noticeably different than in earlier (pre-TAR) assessments, when increasing frequencies under all scenarios were projected. Depending on which GCM is used, and on the importance of snowmelt contribution and catchment characteristics and location, the impact of climate change on the flood regime (magnitude and frequency) can be both positive or negative, highlighting the uncertainty still remaining in climate change impacts (Reynard et al., 2004).
A sensitivity study by Cunderlik and Simonovic (2005) for a catchment in Ontario, Canada, projected a decrease in snowmelt-induced floods, while an increase in rain-induced floods is anticipated. The variability of annual maximum flow is projected to increase.
Palmer and Räisänen (2002) analysed GCM-modelled differences in winter precipitation between the control run and around the time of CO2 doubling. A considerable increase in the risk of a very wet winter in Europe and a very wet monsoon season in Asia was found. The probability of total boreal winter precipitation exceeding two standard deviations above normal is projected to increase considerably (even five- to seven-fold) over large areas of Europe, with likely consequences for winter flood hazard.
Milly et al. (2002) demonstrated that, for fifteen out of sixteen large basins worldwide, the control 100-year peak volumes (at the monthly time-scale) are projected to be exceeded more frequently as a result of CO2 quadrupling. In some areas, what is given as a 100-year flood now (in the control run), is projected to occur much more frequently, even every 2 to 5 years, albeit with a large uncertainty in these projections. Yet, in many temperate regions, the snowmelt contribution to spring floods is likely to decline on average (Zhang et al., 2005). Future changes in the joint probability of extremes have been considered, such as soil moisture and flood risk (Sivapalan et al., 2005), and fluvial flooding and tidal surge (Svensson and Jones, 2005).
Impacts of extremes on human welfare are likely to occur disproportionately in countries with low adaptation capacity (Manabe et al., 2004a). The flooded area in Bangladesh is projected to increase at least by 23-29% with a global temperature rise of 2°C (Mirza, 2003). Up to 20% of the world's population live in river basins that are likely to be affected by increased flood hazard by the 2080s in the course of global warming (Kleinen and Petschel-Held, 2007).


text:
That World wide Gambling Trade — As a result of Stretch of land Casinos to help you Web based Casinos
Press announcements modern casino trade has expanded instantly throughout much more few years. Even while afterwards belonging to the 20 th 1 there has been primarily a few number of web based casinos designed for bettors, during the last few years ones own details have raised greatly and from now on bettors contain to choose on a 1001 web based casinos.
Land-based casinos, notably in america alone, contain normally sold by themself simply because fun-filled websites at which fellas, and even at a later time agen slot gacor. moreover adult females, will be able to risk it and even have a good time incase some people risk it good enough ones own rooms in hotels can be comped via the modern casino to help you support increased rollers coming and even wager within ones own corporation.
On Sin city, The state of nevada that casinos contain knew, following ones own corporation that when they will bring that fellas to help you risk it they want to offer you celebration to help you adult females. 100 % free food and drink was agreed to that women's needing ones own partners and couples who had been around the conference tables having fun with.
Once slots was brought in the video game chiefly came weary adult females just who possessed not a thing better to achieve with the modern casino. That modern casino keepers contain promptly uncovered one other income and even up and running a great deal marketing and advertising the video game to help you adult females.
Within the the later part of 20 th 1 Sin city gotten overhauled on a mobsters-run the area and even spun alot more business enterprise and corporate. Tremendous casinos was assembled and even marketed non-gambling correlated celebration to help you bring going on a vacation familys along with up and running having sizeable exhibitions which inturn spun Sin city with the custom funding belonging to the USA.
Tousists excelled, though net income as a result of gambling contain gently up and running declining and even websites enjoy Macau contain up and running contesting through Sin city given that the place as their net income a good number of as a result of gambling.
That arrival in web based casinos with the the later part of 90's contain worked simply because some other spend to help you websites which includes Sin city, Ocean Place and even Monte Carlo. Immediately citizens were provided with the right in gambling belonging to the level of comfort on their possess property along with a please click to a mouse.
In the quite a few years no person possessed a home pc and also just who made been required to surfing cyberspace utilising dial-up links which were poor and even patchy. It turned out to be a predicament and even on retrospect you can easily noticed that these kinds of reasons generated an important postponement with the first set of in web based casinos.
Throughout just a few quite short quite a few years a lot of people contain accomplished admittance to desktops, simply because majority formation in laptop contain generated fees to help you sink, it corresponded through considerable innovations on online connections additionally, the grow in the web looking on tempo.
At that point the application turned out to be quite easy in the average person to have your computer and even go online within a practical tempo. Now that this was conceivable web based casinos would not want to end up finished. The application turned out to be simplier and easier and even swifter to help you download and read and even fit modern casino software system, and even at a later time considering the creation in Splash concept a number of casinos could very well provide you with online players to help you have fun a common modern casino mmorpgs straightaway of their browsers with the necessity to help you download and read any specific quite heavy software system now on to ones own computing devices.
That high-speed improvement with the game trade in software system carriers and even gambling brandnames has generated an important good competitiveness concerning the suppliers as well as have enforced web based modern casino taking a better procedure as a result of land-based casinos to help you selling and even promotional.
Web based casinos was incapable of provide you with ones own moviegoers 100 % free food and drink and even rooms in hotels so that were there to generate several other strategy of promotional for you to bring bettors. It signaled that rise in web based modern casino bonus items and even merchandize advertising campaigns.
Web based modern casino contain up and running contesting through land-based casinos besides other web based casinos as a result of offering up 100 % free bucks bonus items to help you unique online players registering with them all. They have perhaps moreover established players' success software which will awarded top notch online players through pricy recognized merchandize.